(More Than) Grrrl Power! Girls Studies at UCF

EVENT: GIRLS ROCK FILM SCREENING HOST: UCF Women’s Studies DATE: Monday, March 23rd 2009 @ 6:00 pm PLACE: Communication Room 101 The film is about a Rock 'n' Roll Camp where girls ranging in age from 8 to 18 are taught that it's OK to sweat like a pig, scream like a banshee, wail on their instruments with complete and utter abandon, and that "it is 100% okay to be exactly who you are." The girls have a week to select a band, an instrument they may have never played before, and write a song. In between, they are taught by indie rock chicks such as Carrie Brownstein from Sleater-Kinney various lessons of empowerment from self-defense to anger management. At the end of the week, all the bands perform a concert for over 700 people. The film follows several campers: Laura, a Korean adoptee obsessed by death metal; Misty, who is emerging from a life of meth addiction, homelessness and gang activity; and Amelia, an eight-year-old who writes experimental rock songs about ...

This is a really great short documentary about a girl living in Swat, Pakistan, the day before the Taliban closes all schools for girls. It's only 15 minutes, so it's worth watching if you can find the time. It really opened up my eyes to the issues girls are facing on a global level, especially where education is concerned, and the girls' rallying is an awesome example of the types of feminism found all over the world.

Barbie could get an unwelcome present for her 50th birthday: outlawed in West Virginia. A state lawmaker proposed a bill Tuesday to ban sales of the iconic Mattel doll and others like her. The Barbie Ban Bill, proposed by Democratic Delegate Jeff Eldridge (D) Lincoln County, says such toys influence girls to place too much importance on physical beauty, at the expense of their intellectual and emotional development. "I just hate the image that we give to our kids that if you're beautiful, you're beautiful and you don't have to be smart," Eldridge told West Virginia news station WOWK. The delegate concedes that the chances of getting the bill passed are slim, but adds that he stands behind it. "I knew a lot of people were going to joke about it and poke fun at me," Eldridge said. "I couldn't get anybody to sign on the bill with me but I said I'm still going to introduce it." A Mattel spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request f...